Locking device for sliding doors.



A. E. MILES.

LOCKINGDEVICE FOR SLIDING DOORS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 24. 1911.

1,228,7139 Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

ALBERT E. MILES, OF HAVEEHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR SLIDING DOORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

lPatented Apr. 24L, 1917.

Application filed January 24., 1917. Serial No. 144,277.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. MILES, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Haverhill, county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Locking Devices for Sliding Doors, of which the following is a specification.

It is a well-known fact, that, in the construction of a sliding door, such as is usually employed for stables, garages and other buildings, and also when they have double entrances, so that two sliding doors, moving one in front of the other are employed, a considerable amount of clearance space must be provided between the door casing and the door, or between the two doors, to permit them to run freely. Double sliding doors, as ordinarily arranged, overlap for some inches when both are closed, but usually the space between these overlapping portions is sufficient to permit the passage of so much air that the heating of a building thus equipped is diflicult in cold weather, or at least, the loss of heat thereby occasioned is, in many instances, a matter of much importance.

The object of my invention is to provide a form of locking device for sliding doors by means of which the overlapping portions of a pair of doors, or a single door which overlaps a casing, when in closed position, may be readily brought into close contact, so that passage of air therebetween will be prevented, said locking device being also adapted to be readily unlocked, so that the doors may be easily moved.

I accomplish this object by the means shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of the overlapping portion of a pair of sliding doors, provided with a locking device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the doors in position to be locked.

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views on the line 33 of Fig. 1, showing the parts in different positions.

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views of the locking device members.

In the drawings a and b respectively indicate end portions of a pair of ordinary slidin doors, which, when in closed position, gindicated in Fig. 1) overlap to a substantial extent, said doors being arranged in runways, so that they may be freely moved relatively, without binding one against the other, and may yet be forced into close contact, at their overlapping portions, when in closed position.

According to my invention I provide the door a, which slides at the inner side of the door 6, with a rigid metal bracket 0, which is secured to the inner side and projects horizontally beyond the end thereof, about midway between its top and bottom, said bracket having an aperture 0, therein adjacent its end. I further provide a screw threaded bolt (Z, having a T-shaped head cl, the shank of which is arranged in said aperture c, and is of sufficiently smaller diameter to permit it to slide freely therein and swing laterally to some extent. A nut 6, having a handle e thereon, is threaded on said shank of said bolt beyond the bracket. The inner side of the door I), which runs next the door a, is recessed to receive said bolt head (Z and a face plate 7, is secured to the door I) over said recess, and has an aperture f formed therein, said aperture being in the form of a T-shaped slot, having a horizontal portion and a vertical portion leading downwardly from the middle thereof, and adapted to permit the head at of the bolt to be passed through its horizontal portion, and its shank to be swung into its vertical portion so that the head is carried behind the plate, an under cut or anchoring recess thus being formed to receive and removably engage the bolt. The aperture in the bracket 0, and that in the plate f, are arranged to come approximately into register when the doors are in closed position.

In practice, a felt strip 9, is preferably provided on the overlapping portion of one of the doors.

In looking the doors after they have been moved into closed position, the T-shaped bolt-head is passed through the horizontal portion of the slot f of the plate, as shown in Fig. 3, and then its shank is swung down into the vertical portion of said slot. The nut 6, will then be screwed upon the bolt, drawing the head cl against the inner side of the plate and thus drawing the overlapping portions of the door together, so that they are forced into close contact, as shown in Fig. 4. The shank of the bolt, adjacent the head is made square to prevent turning. The doors are thus caused to make a practically air-tight joint with each other, especially when a soft packing, as the felt g, is used therebetween.

The doors will also thus be locked against opening movement, but may be readily unlocked by loosening the nut and disengaging the bolt from the door Z) as will be obvious.

W'hile the above described device is most generally employed and is more particularly advantageous in connection with a pair of sliding doors, it is also usable with a single door, under certain conditions, as the part carrying the bracket and locking bolt may be considered as a stationary support.

The form of fastener shown is adapted to permit some leeway in the closed positions of the doors as the bolt is permitted to swing horizontally, to a limited extent as well as vertically.

Heavy sliding doors are liable to be moved to slightly diiierent positions, when closed, and when the above described device is employcd in connection therewith, the bolt (Z may be engaged behind the plate 7, even though the apertures in the bracket and plate may not be in exact register, by swinging the bolt laterally, so that it may be passed through the plate, the slots therein, and the recess in the rear thereof, being of sutficient size to permit the T-headof the bolt to be tilted from the normal position.

I claim In combination with a pair of relatively sliding doors having overlapping end portions, a bracket mounted on one of said doors and arranged to project beyond its end, a bolt having a transversely projecting head and a shank extending loosely through the projecting end of said bracket, to permit sliding and universal swinging movement of said shanktherein, the other door having a recess in its side opposite the end of said bracket, when the doors are in closed position, and a plate thereover having an opening therein adapted to permit said bolt head to be passed therethrough and a slot leading from said opening adapted to receive said shank, when swung laterally in the bracket, to permit the bolt-head to be engaged with the inner side of said plate, and a nut threaded on the end of said shank beyond the bracket, to draw the bolt-head to ward the bracket, and clamp the doors together.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALBERT E. MILES. Witnesses:

RANsoM C. PINGREE, L. H. HARRIMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents,

Washington, D. G. i 

